New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced a deal Thursday night to require businesses with 20 employees or more to provide five sick days each year, starting in April 2014.Advance file photo

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New York City legislators, labor advocates and business leaders have struck a deal on the hotly contested issue of paid sick leave. The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce quickly decried the move.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced the agreement Thursday night. She says it will require businesses with 20 or more employees to provide five paid sick days to their workers beginning April 1, 2014.

On October 1, 2015, the same requirement would be extend to businesses with 15 or more employees.

All employees would have to be employed for at least four months to be eligible.

Under the agreement, businesses of any size must provide unpaid sick leave to their employees beginning April 1, 2014.

Quinn has long declined to bring the matter to a vote, arguing in the past that the measure would hurt small employers.

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Linda Baran, president and chief executive officer of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement Thursday night that the Chamber does not support government mandates on businesses.

"The Staten Island Chamber has been very vocal in the debate surrounding small businesses being required to provide mandated paid sick days," Ms. Baran said. "While changes made to intro 97-A are an improvement, and Speaker Quinn has wisely delayed the bill taking effect until the economy improves, our position is that this issue should be taken up at the state or federal level, and not by the New York City Council. The Chamber did not negotiate with the advocates of this bill on a compromise, we did, in fact, point out to the Speaker and City Council Members the negative effects that 97-A, in its original form, would have had on the entire business community. While the latest version of the bill is less onerous, we do not support these type of government mandates on business."